Agreements

FAPESP-JSPS - Call for Proposals 2014

1. Overview

The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), based on the Memorandum of Understanding and its Details for Implementation, will carry out joint workshops to foster collaboration between young researchers in Japan and in São Paulo, Brazil. The purpose of this program is to encourage young researchers to share knowledge, experience and ideas in the research areas stipulated in the call for proposals, to provide them with a career development opportunity, and to build networks for future collaborations among them that may lead to the development of new research areas.

2. Topics

Workshop coordinators (applicants) should choose one of the following two topics:

a) “Culture and Society”.

b) “Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation”.

3. Eligibility of Coordinators

a) Each proposal must have one co-coordinator on the Japanese side and one co-coordinator on the Brazilian side.

b) JSPS and FAPESP will , according to item 8 of this Application Guidelines, select the Japan and Brazil workshop co-coordinators, who will be jointly responsible for coordinating the workshop between the two countries, choosing the participants, deciding upon contents of its program, handling related accounting, conducting the workshop itself, and preparing and submitting a final report.

For JSPS (Japan):

A co-coordinator on the Japan side must hold a full-time or equivalent position as a researcher at a university or research institution in Japan that is eligible to receive Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI).

For FAPESP (Brazil):

A co-coordinator on the São Paulo, Brazil side must hold a full-time or equivalent position as a researcher at a higher education and/or research institution in the State of São Paulo and must satisfy Thematic Grants eligibility criteria (www.fapesp.br/176#4599).

4. Number of workshops to be selected in FY 2014

Total: 2 workshops.

5. Conditions and Recruitment of Participants

a) Conditions

Terms

Conditions

Workshop duration

Consecutive 3 days (arrival/departure days not included).
(Held between 1 October 2014 and 31 March 2015)

Venue

Either in Japan or in the State of São Paulo, Brazil.

Participants

Up to 20 researchers from each country may take part in each workshop. The two coordinators, one from Japan and the other from the State of São Paulo, will lead the workshop. In addition, each coordinator may propose up to three leading/established researchers to act as mentors. The remaining – and majority – of workshop places will be for early career researchers, who will be chosen after the proposal is selected. In principle, “early career researchers” are to have been awarded their PhDs not more than 10 years prior to the workshop. Exceptions may be made for career breaks. The selected early career participants from the Brazilian side must be from institutions of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. No more than a third of the early career researchers from each side may be recruited from the institutions of the coordinators.

Mentors

Three researchers (six altogether) proposed by each of the coordinators. Besides giving keynote lectures, mentors are expected to offer guidance to the participants, sharing their experience and knowledge with them. Ideally, they should also stay in touch with the early career researchers after the workshop ends so as to share contacts and build networks with them. No more than one mentor from each country may be recruited from the institutions of the coordinators.

Language

English.

b) Recruitment of participants

After a workshop has been selected, its coordinators will be responsible for recruiting the participants. They are to issue an open call for participants, disseminated through various defined channels.

Participants must possess a level of English sufficiently high to take an active part in the workshop discussions.

6. Workshop Guidelines

Sessions should be designed in such a way as to be as interactive as possible, with participants encouraged to share their knowledge, experience and ideas. The workshop co-coordinators and mentors should share their expertise with the younger researchers.

Please consider the following points when proposing a workshop:

Keynote lectures by the workshop coordinators and mentors.

Research sessions in which the early career researchers can share their current research (in poster format or oral presentations).

Networking sessions in which the participants can interact and explore possibilities for collaboration.

A workshop may include a visit to a relevant research institution or facility.

7. Funding from JSPS and FAPESP

Each party will equally contribute the equivalent to 80,000 US dollars per workshop. (i.e., JSPS will support up to 8 million YEN, while FAPESP will support up to 185,000 BRL per workshop).

a) The sending party will cover:

(i) International travel between Japan and Brazil.

(ii) per Diem (including daily allowances, accommodations , and domestic travel expenses) for its participants in the host country.

b) The hosting party will cover:

(i) per Diem (including daily allowances, accommodations and domestic travel expenses) for the participants of its own country.

(ii) Expenses related to holding the workshop such as third part services, printed material, communications, etc.

c) It is desirable that the co-coordinator of the Workshop in the State of São Paulo, whenever possible, manage to find accommodations, at his institution of origin, for achievement of the meeting, as counterpart to the obtained funding.

8. Application schedule

Applicants must submit their proposals before 15 May 2014 to FAPESP and JSPS. The Japanese applicants are to submit their proposals to JSPS and the Brazilian candidates to FAPESP. After a peer review is held in each country, JSPS and FAPESP will carry out a joint review panel. Applicants will receive the selection results around September 2014.

9. Application procedures and detailed information

Applicants should contact the funding agency in their country to confirm the detailed information. As the program “FAPESP-JSPS Joint Research Workshop 2014” follows the objectives agreed upon by both parties in the Memorandum of Understanding, applicants on the Japanese side should refer to the official Japanese version of the Call for Proposals, which gives more precise and additional instructions. Applicants may only submit proposals in the areas stipulated in Paragraph 2.

Applicants on the Brazilian side should submit their proposals according to FAPESP’s guidelines under the “Auxílio Organização” funding scheme, as described on the following site: www.fapesp.br/156. In addition, applicants from State of São Paulo must also send FAPESP the following documents: